Volunteers do it again

Submitted by editor on Wed, 07/03/2013 - 9:43am

It seems when an event or tradition that is a favorite of a community is on the verge of extinction, people rally with each other to keep it going.

It happened last year when the Mobilize Montgomery office closed after the Kolacky Days celebration. With the event’s central hub of organization closed, many wondered if and how the festival would materialize this year.

But volunteers who sit on the Montgomery Area Community Club (MACC) the event’s sponsor, and the people who head all of its committees, stepped up to the plate. Since last year, they have been meeting and are working to keep the annual tradition alive.

However, despite MACC’s intentions, two of its events almost folded recently. A couple of weeks ago, MACC president Mark Peterson wrote a letter to the editor stating that volleyball and softball were on the verge of being cancelled due to lack of organizers. News spread, and two volunteers attended a community club meeting last month and said they would organize these events.

A similar event occurred with our neighbors to the north a few weeks ago when a story in the June 13 edition of The New Prague Times reported that it appeared there would be no Fourth of July fireworks display in New Prague this year.

A lot of people were disappointed, but one New Prague area business decided to do something about it.

New Prague-Ceska- Louisville Mutual Insurance Company (NPCL) has stepped up to sponsor this year’s fireworks show which will be held on Friday evening, July 5.

John Glisczinski, president of NPCL, said he had talked to a lot of people who were disappointed after reading in the newspaper that there would be no show. Carol Weiers, manager of NPCL, said board members agreed it was a sad thing to have happen. “We agreed to keep the tradition alive.”

Staging area for the fireworks is near the athletic fields north of New Prague Middle School, with the main viewing area in the athletic fields east of the school. The show is scheduled to start at 10:10 p.m.

The same story is true for our neighbors to the east with volunteers with the Lonsdale Area Chamber of Commerce who have also been working to bring Lonsdale Community Days’ favorite events to the community. That event is scheduled for Aug. 9-11.

It is nice to know that our communities are supported by such wonderful volunteers with great volunteers. We shouldn’t ever take those things for granted.